Private equity firms team up to bid for Vivendi’s Brazilian unit GVT

A group of private equity firms, including KKR & Co LP (NYSE:KKR) and Apax Partners LLP, intends to make a joint bid of as much as USD5bn (EUR3.7bn) for Brazilian telecommunications company Global Village Telecom (Holding) SA, or GVT, a unit of French Vivendi SA (EPA:VIV), Bloomberg said today citing knowledgeable sources.

Other participants in the group are Gavea Investimentos Ltda, owned by JP Morgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM), and Cambuhy Investimentos Ltda. Brazilian investment bank BTG Pactual Group is still mulling over the possibility of taking part in the bid, the sources said. Valor Economico had reported previously, without citing sources, that BTG Pactual had pulled out of the race.

Their rival in the competition is US satellite-television provider DirecTV (NASDAQ:DTV), which is expected to propose a price closer to the asking price of USD8bn, due to the synergies that a possible deal could create. According to one of the sources, potential bidders are getting ready for the second round of the auction, which is seen to be completed by the end of next month.

Representatives for Vivendi, Apax, KKR, BTG Pactual and JP Morgan refused to comment. DirecTV did not immediately respond to Bloomberg’s message asking for a comment, whereas Cambuhy Investimentos did not answer the agency’s calls.

Vivendi put GVT up for sale in 2012 after buying it for EUR3bn (USD4.1bn) in 2009.